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 Editorials | October 2005 
Mexican Primary Politics... the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
 Carlos Luken - MexiData.info
| | Mexico's ruling party on Sunday chose the nation's former energy secretary as its candidate for presidential elections next July, all but setting the slate of major candidates that will compete in the historic vote. Felipe Calderon won about 58 percent of the vote in the last of three regional votes, giving him 52 percent of the cumulative vote – enough to avoid a runoff – after a bitter National Action Party primary fought between three former Cabinet members in President Vicente Fox's center-right government. Mexican law prevented Fox from running again. |
Baring unimaginable circumstances (which are inescapable in politics), Mexico’s presidential primary season has unofficially ended as all three major parties have defined their candidates for the 2006 election.
As expected, Mexico’s evolving democratic process has played out like a spaghetti western. Following choreographed scenes and shootouts, at the end there were three characters standing – the major party candidates, or as they might be christened: the good, the bad and the ugly.
Real democratic processes were unknown in Mexico until the 2000 election when an upstart named Vicente Fox took on and defeated the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that had held uncontested power for 71 years. During the last century Mexico was ruled by caudillos, authoritarian military and political bosses and overlords, who until 2000 selected their nominees and negotiated their candidacy in rigorous observance to party power, quotas and discipline.
Once a PRI candidacy was obtained, election victory was assured and other parties were forced to compete for the leftovers. Consequently, primary election procedures or traditions were virtually unheard of, although over the years the National Action Party (PAN) did make attempts to initiate the procedure.
But most other parties succumbed to the caudillo tradition, and simply distributed the available positions among their officials without the benefit of nominating conventions. With the PRI’s autocratic traditions, primaries were unnecessary and thus nonexistent.
Despite Fox’s 2000 victory, the caudillo syndrome continued as an acceptable tradition in most parties, especially in the monolithic PRI were it was most successful. Yet as democracy advanced, the PRI’s once bountiful government jobs became fewer and progress positions disappeared, causing disgruntled PRI members to abandon the party to seek candidacies in the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), with its assimilated caudillo syndrome.
Consequently Mexico’s primary experiment has been half-heartened, simply because primaries have no tradition or culture of support.
The bad
In attempting the experiment, the PRI was more concerned with modernizing its image than in overhauling Mexico’s democratic procedures. The once ruling party saw no incentive other than public relations. Continuing in true caudillo fashion, then PRI president Roberto Madrazo attempted a primary coup, which was promptly blocked by opposing caudillos congregated under a reformist platform.
Madrazo was forced to resign as party president, and to concede the need for a PRI nominating convention, which he did while outmaneuvering and keeping his statute heir apparent, Elba Esther Gordillo, from the PRI presidency. In the meantime, the reformist governors’ organization eagerly accepted Gordillo’s unseating and named State of Mexico Governor Arturo Montiel as its candidate. Both Madrazo and Montiel registered for the party convention.
Once registered, Madrazo’s party machinery scheduled the convention dates and agendas. Montiel however challenged the timing and procedures, claiming they favored Madrazo, and in an apparent conciliatory move the convention was rescheduled for November.
During October a number of Montiel family finance irregularities were publicly exposed. Spokespersons for Montiel initially blamed the Fox administration for the disclosures, but that stopped as Madrazo’s involvement was broadly speculated.
And then, after vainly trying to explain the source of his inexplicable family fortune, Montiel decided to withdraw his candidacy and leave the field open to Madrazo. In doing so, many observers feel that Montiel was pressured to negotiate a future position with Madrazo. A number of governors however felt betrayed, and their organization will probably not support the so-called “unity” candidacy of Madrazo.
The ugly
The caudillo movement also showed its ugly head in the leftist PRD, as former Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was named the party’s presidential candidate – without the PRD allowing party members a voice to nominate alternate contestants. Lopez Obrador, who is currently leading in the polls, has yet to assimilate his party’s moral leader, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, into his camp as division, charges of corruption, and ideological differences have surfaced in the PRD campaign.
The good
The PAN managed to organize a successful primary election process, held nationally in three different regions on three separate dates. Although there has been high voter absenteeism among the party faithful, Felipe Calderon was expected to sew up the PAN candidacy in the final primary on Sunday, October 23. Statistically however Santiago Creel could still force the race into a November runoff.
Mexico must find the means to end its caudillo system and bossism, along with improper political partisanship. Only then will the nation be able to move forward and elect candidates who represent values and principles, and not interests. Until this happens elections will continue to be cynical horse operas.
Carlos Luken, a MexiData.info columnist, is a Mexico-based businessman and consultant. He can be reached via email at ilcmex@yahoo.com. |
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